


Die For You

by auraelie



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M, On the Run, SethKate - Freeform, lots of bickering, other characters from the show might make an appearance, slow burn otherwise it's not really sethkate is it, some lighthearted ot3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-03 14:25:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8717380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auraelie/pseuds/auraelie
Summary: Set after 3x10 -- After successfully getting rid of Amaru and saving Kate, the Gecko brothers hit the road accompanied by Kate and start causing trouble by robbing banks along the border but will more trouble follow them? The title comes from the song "Die For You" by The Weeknd.





	1. Can't Afford To Go Through That Pain Again

**Author's Note:**

> twitter : sethndkate  
> tumblr : auraelie
> 
> feel free to send your thoughts about DFY there, it's always nice  
> feedback through comments is always highly appreciated!

Kate Fuller had never been one to stray too far from the "right" path of life that her own father used to preach about on every Sunday morning in front of most of Bethel.

 

 

But then, she also wasn't aware that culebras existed, or even that she would come to one day fight them to the death, lose her beloved father to them and that her own brother would become one of them.

 

 

Her life had been the most uneventful until that fateful day when they stopped on their way on Mexico and bumped into the Gecko brothers, those same brothers she was now robbing banks with. If her mother had lived to see that day, she would've thought that her sweet little daughter had lost her mind – maybe she did lose her mind. But how could anyone blame her ? Her life had become so fucked up, who wouldn't lose their mind after having killed their own father to keep him from turning into a monster ?

 

 

Kate had her reasons for changing her life so radically – one of them being Seth Gecko, the one man who fought for her and stood by her – even that one time he left her on the side of the road, he immediately regretted it and still had to forgive himself for ever making that stupid mistake.

 

 

Kate, despite her best instincts telling her the Geckos were trouble, still decided to leave with them after beating Amaru. Her life was already messed up. Getting into a little trouble with Seth and Richie couldn't possibly be worse than going back to Bethel and feeling like an outsider, like a stranger in her own town and having people ask her where her father and brother were and why she seemed totally different. Kate didn't feel like explaining herself and going back to that town would only remind her of everything she had lost.

 

 

Besides, she didn't want to just walk away from the Geckos, especially Seth. They'd developed a stronger bond over time and she felt closer to him than Richard. Seth and her had already spent a couple of months together before and going back to their little routine had been surprisingly easy. They had eased back into it, falling back into old patterns : shitty motel rooms in the middle of nowhere, pulling scores once in a while to manage and the occasional fun they'd have in between jobs – but this time, Richie was with them.

 

 

It had been three months since Amaru, the trio were now on the road, on their way to this week's motel room after having robbed another bank and stealing a car to get away so they wouldn't be tracked.

“ _Richie, I don't recall asking you to pick a goddamn mixtape. What the fuck is that song?”_

“ _No clue, came with the car,”_  Richie simply stated.

“ _Fucking great, couldn't they like decent music, for God's sake,”_  Seth complained.

“ _Well, Seth, you could have gotten a less recognizable car last week and we wouldn't have had to find another car, again. Last time I checked, there weren't that many bright red Audi R8s in this country, huh.”_

“ _I'm sorry that I wanted us to have a nice car for once, you weren't complaining when you were using the heating on your goddamn seat.”_

“ _Okay, that's enough, you two. Will you stop? Some of us are trying to get some damn sleep and by some of us, I mean I am trying to catch up on some sleep,”_  Kate cut in, clearly done with the brothers constantly arguing, even after they had just pulled an amazing score.

“ _Clearly you've spent too much time with us, look at you cursing and being moody, you've practically turned into Seth...”_

“ _Shut the fuck up, you dick.”_  Seth added, slapping Richard over his head.

 

 

Richie mumbled something along the lines of : _"Being a culebra doesn't make me immune to pain for God's sake!"_ Seth shook his head, rolling his eyes, then looked back at Kate in the rear view mirror to check up on her : 

_"You okay back there? Feeling comfy enough? My jacket's back there somewhere if you want to... I don't know... Make a pillow or something? Help yourself, I don't mind."_

“ _I'm fine, Seth, now you two simmer down and let me sleep, oh and eyes on the road, grandma,”_  Kate chuckled at her choice of nickname for Seth.

“ _You're lucky I'm behind the wheel, Kate,”_  Seth threatened, but not without a light chuckle.

 

 

Kate loved this, the bickering, the playful banter she'd have with both of them, she felt at ease with them, even though they had led very different lives – they were professional thieves, she was just a teenager fresh out of high school. What were the odds their paths would cross? Apparently they were not that slim, judging by where she had ended up.

 

 

They definitely weren't perfect and this life wasn't the one she had pictured for herself when she was younger. Becoming a thief was not part of her plans, but somehow, by some fucked up logic, it made sense for her to be with los hermanos Geckos. This was her life now: robbing banks with the Geckos and running like hell before they got caught.

 

 

This time they had gotten enough money to last them over a month, Seth had told them this would be a good score but even he was surprised after Kate was done counting the money in the backseat and announced they had managed to steal _"ten fucking thousand dollars"_ as she had said to the brothers _._ They had enough money to stay in less shitty hotel rooms than they were used to and maybe they'd even get the chance to drive to the beach like Kate had suggested time and time again these past few months. Seth had promised her last month that they would drive out to the beach at least once and Kate was holding him to that promise.

 

 

 _"Well cupcake, we've arrived at this week's home, wake up sleepy head,"_ Seth lightly shook her bare knee while he was backing the car into a parking spot and she felt chills going up to her spine -- his hand was freezing cold and her knee was left exposed by her white dress.

 

 

She had managed to fall asleep for a while and she was clutching onto Seth's jacket which had somehow ended up in her lap and was now a wrinkly mess.

_"Sorry, I kinda ruined your jacket.."_

_"It's okay, have you seen how old it looks? It's okay really."_

_"Looks almost as old as you..."_ Kate said with a hint of mischief in her voice and a smirk on her lips.

 _"Shit,"_ Richie added, _"That was a good one, Kate!"_

_"Sorry Seth, that was such a good opportunity, I couldn't just not grab it, still love you though."_

 

 

Once Kate said those words, Seth kinda just froze in his seat for a second and nearly backed the car into a wall but he quickly shook it off. Kate didn't mean it like that, she didn't love him, she appreciated him at most, she probably meant it as a figure of speech, that was it. But still, his heart skipped a bit when she said those words, even though she hadn't meant them in a romantic way. They weren't like that, it was just wrong, they could never be like that. 

 

 

The three of them got out of the car and Seth stood next to Kate :

 _"Yeah, you just had to make fun of the old man, didn't you?"_ Seth shook his head, glancing at Kate with a hint of a smile.

 

 

And just like that, Kate brushed past him, her hand almost touching his, as she walked to the motel reception to grab their room keys. And Seth's breath was taken away for what felt like the millionth time today. But Seth couldn't shake this weird feeling in his stomach — butterflies. Hell no, Seth Gecko was a grown ass man, he didn't get "butterflies" that shit was reserved to teenage girls. Maybe he was just hungry, that was it, yeah. He was just hungry after pulling a great score.

 

 

That's what he told himself when he caught a glimpse of her bare back while she was getting dressed into her pajamas in the bathroom, her light skin glowing under the fluorescent light of the bathroom. She looked so pale compared to him and her dark brown hair only made her look that much paler. He hadn't even meant to glance that way, he kinda just did. 

 

 

That's what he told himself at night when he looked at Kate peacefully sleeping on the other side of the room, her face visible in the dim light coming through the curtains.

 

 

Seth would never admit it but he found himself looking, staring at Kate longer than usual a lot more lately, he didn't even think about it, it just.. happened. They would be sitting, Richie, Kate and him, talking about their next target or some shit, then Kate would intervene and ask Richie something and Seth would just look at her features a little too long, a little too attentively, like he was trying to memorize each and every one of her facial features.

 

 

Like he was afraid she would just fade away at any moment, and God knows he never wanted her to leave again. He had left her once and then she died. Now he was never going to let her out of his sight again.

 

 

He just couldn't afford to go through that pain again.


	2. We're Now On The Run, Princess

Seth Gecko was several things : a brother, Kate's partner, a thief, a man, but a morning person, that he was not – yet he found himself driving to the closest grocery store at 8:30am on a Saturday to grab them some breakfast.

  


The little trio was trying to keep a low profile and showing up at the motel cafeteria was too risky, anyone could see them and recognize them : Seth was not about to let that happen, not once they'd managed to get a decent amount of money that would allow them to lay low for a while and not have to rob a random place to get some cash.  
  


It was not the robbing part that bothered him, but rather the risk of getting into too much trouble at once. They didn't want to get caught and they certainly didn't want to have to explain to the authorities how the three of them were alive after two of them were supposed to have died in a car crash that made it to the national news. Going to jail wasn't a good perspective either, especially for Kate, there was no way in hell Seth would ever let that happen.  
  


No matter what, Seth had promised Kate a long time ago that she would get out of this without any bumps or scrapes. Sure enough, she'd gotten a few of them – including dying for a while and being possessed by a Xibalban queen – but Seth had sworn that he would keep her safe, better than he had before.  
  


He drove back to the motel with three cups of black coffee and a cup of horchata – he remembered Richie annoying him with that drink back when they didn't know anything about culebras.  
  


He also grabbed some pancakes and jam for Kate.

  
  


As he drove back, he spotted a little restaurant that looked nice enough and seemed to serve breakfast and made a mental note to go there before they left for a new city.

  
  


Seth got out of the car, grabbing their breakfast from the passenger seat and readjusted his gun safely tucked in the waistband of his boxers.  
  


He walked back to their room and found Kate sitting outside on the chair beside the door, her eyes closed, the wind lightly blowing through her hair. Once she heard his footsteps, she opened her eyes and beamed at him :

_“You got us breakfast! I was wondering where you were, I woke up twenty minutes ago and Richie told me he heard you leave.”_

_“Well, here I am, with coffee, Richie's damn horchata and your pancakes and jam, just the way you like them!”_

_“You remembered! Give me my coffee, I tried to get some from the vending machine and it tasted nothing like coffee, I need to get this awful taste off my tongue, it's disgusting.”_

  
  


Seth, amused by her little story, gave her one of the cups with a chuckle, took one for himself and set the remaining one and the cup of horchata on the edge of their room's window. He took a sip of his black coffee and let out a hum of satisfaction – it was still scalding hot, maybe he had driven _a little_ too fast and broke _a few_ laws but hey, his coffee was still hot.

 _“Is Richie awake yet?”_ Seth asked, wondering where his brother was. Knowing him, he was probably sleeping in, but he still asked anyway.

_“Yeah, he's been up for a while, I think he's on the phone somewhere...”_

_“On the phone? Who is he even calling?”_ Seth wondered. It's not like they had that many people to call on a daily basis. Richard being on the phone seemed kind of strange to him.

 _“He didn't say but I have a feeling it's Freddie, he mentioned him the other day but I didn't ask,”_ Kate answered, not really knowing what to say because she didn't know for sure who Richie could call this early or at any time, for that matter.

 _“Okay, let's get back inside, people are going to start their day, don't want too many of them seeing us,”_ Seth said, drinking the last drop of coffee he had left and throwing the cup in the trash can next to Kate's chair.

 _“Yeah, right,”_ Kate agreed and stood up from the chair she had been sitting on.  
  


Seth grabbed Richie's coffee and horchata and walked into the motel room, following Kate's steps. He closed the door behind him and sat at the little table sitting right next to the window and Kate joined him, still sipping on her coffee.

_“Do you have a knife for the jam? I'm kinda hungry already.”_

_“It's in my jacket, inside pocket, on my bed,”_ Seth answered, looking up at Kate who was taking a sip of coffee, her face scrunching up because of how strong it was. _“Next time, I'll get you a decaf if black's too strong for you.”_

 _“No, no decaf! What's the point of drinking coffee if it doesn't even taste like it?”_ Kate protested, she didn't like her coffee black, but decaf... No, she'd never drink decaf.

_“You got a point. Anyway, my knife's in my jacket.”_

  


Kate nodded, silently thanking Seth and walked to his bed, picking up the jacket and patting it down to find the knife. She searched through the inside pocket and didn't find it anywhere. She found a piece of paper though, with a random phone number scribbled on it.

 _“That's not my jacket, that's Richie's,”_ Seth was suddenly standing right next to Kate, curiously looking at the piece of paper she was holding. _“Whose number is that?”_

 _“I have no clue, it was in Richie's jacket. I don't know that number,”_ Kate added as she turned to Seth.  
  


He was suddenly standing very close to her, so close she could smell him – she could smell coffee, a hint of whiskey and... cigarette smoke? Did Seth smoke? Kate had never seen Seth smoke, but she could've sworn he smelled of smoke.

  


He ignored the very limited space between him and Kate and instead took the piece of paper she had found in his brother's jacket, wondering if that was who Richard was calling. _Only one way to know for sure_ , Seth thought.

  
  


Kate was left looking between the piece of paper Seth was holding and his face – she had never really looked at him, she had never seen him this close, except maybe when she was possessed but that didn't count.

  


She had never noticed just how strong his jawline was, especially right now because he was concentrated.

  
  


She had never noticed how his eyes weren't completely brown or green.

  
  


Or how you could spot little grey hairs here and there – actually, no, she had noticed those before, she liked to tease him about his age, calling him gramps when he was being particularly cranky for instance.

  
  


But her being so much younger than both Gecko brothers didn't really matter to her, she felt comfortable with them and it was all that really mattered.

  


Other people didn't share her views.

  


She could see people staring when they saw her with the brothers, especially with Seth, whose beard made him look even older compared to her. He wasn't old enough to be her father, but not young enough to look like her friend.

  


Seeing them together confused people, but Kate didn't care too much about what they thought. Their relationship was in no way inappropriate, yet people still assumed Seth was a pervert taking advantage of a teenage girl, which wasn't the case – otherwise she would've run for the hills right after the events at the Twister.

  


She realized she had been staring when Richie barged into the room, startling both her and Seth, who had also been staring at her.

“ _You two sure look cozy_ ,” Richie said, smirking with a knowing look on his face.

“ _What's that supposed to mean?”_ Kate asked defensively while taking a step away from Seth – she knew damn well what Richard meant, she could _smell_ Seth for God's sake.

 _“Hold up, wanna tell me whose number you keep in your jacket? Because I'm pretty damn sure Uncle Eddie’s upstairs doing God knows what people do up there. And well, that's about the amount of people you'd want to call to give them updates,”_ Seth asked Richie, curious to hear what he would have to say.

“ _I’ve been calling Ranger Gonzalez,_ ” Richie answered truthfully, confirming Kate’s theory. “ _He's been covering our tracks because a restaurant was blown up in Kansas.”_

 _“And? This affects us how?”_ Seth pressed, not wanting Richie to give him all the details and just spit out what he had to say.

“ _The part that’s about us is coming, brother. Patience,”_ Richie said. _“The thing is, someone managed to survive somehow and told the police that the guy who blew up the place did it because he didn't get any info on our whereabouts when he asked customers at the restaurant. And since we're supposed to be dead, the police asked around and asked Gonzalez who confirmed we were dead.”_

_“I don't like this shit, we were supposed to be okay for a while with all that cash we got the other day and now some random dude just starts fucking chasing us. Fucking great.”_

_“What does that mean?”_ Kate asked.

“ _It means we're now on the run, princess. Pack your bags we're leaving in the afternoon, don't want anyone snitching on us.”_

  
  
And just like that, the trio’s peace was disturbed. And God, it was just the beginning.


	3. Nightmares

After pulling the best score they’d had in three months, neither Kate, nor the Gecko brothers thought they would be on the run again anytime soon. Yet here they were.  
  


As usual, Kate was sat in the middle of the backseat, leaning forward between Seth and Richie’s seats, looking at the road and occasionally stealing some of Seth’s food.  
  


Once Richie came back and told them about the restaurant that had been blown up, they had packed their bags in a hurry, ate some lunch and hit the road driving south, not knowing where they would end up.

 _“Where are we even going to go?”_ Kate asked, she knew they had to move and lay low so whoever was coming after them wouldn’t find them.

 _“I was thinking of driving further down south to stall them, so whoever the fuck’s after us will have a fuck ton of trouble finding us. Anyway, they’ll also have to cross the border to Mexico and I’m sure the border patrol has been briefed about this fucker,”_ Seth answered, gritting his teeth, his eyes not once leaving the road ahead of them.

  
  


Under any other circumstances, Kate would’ve pointed out Seth’s language, maybe she even would have made fun of him for being moody, but she didn’t this time. She could see that Seth was obviously frustrated that this was how things were going down. He was so sure they were safe now, he thought they could take a little break from stealing and actually enjoy themselves for a while ─ as wanted criminals though, fun was limited to places where there weren’t too many people because getting spotted was not an option.

 _“Who could this guy even be though? Did Ranger Gonzalez say anything more about him?”_ Kate asked Richie, her eyebrows furrowed.

 _“He has no idea, the guys who came to ask him to confirm we were dead didn't say much,”_ the younger Gecko answered, with a hint of frustration. _“We're basically being chased by a ghost.”_

 _“Yeah, a ghost that doesn't think twice about blowing up restaurants when things don't go his fucking way,”_ Seth interrupted.

  
  


He was getting tired of always running around to avoid random people that wanted to fuck him over.

  
  


Seth wondered who could even be looking for them. If this was some Xibalban shit again, he would lose his mind.

  


His life had changed so much since the Twister, since the bank robbery in Abilene really. He thought his life was fucked up before, well it was downright chaotic now that he and his brother were on the run with Kate.

  


God, Kate. Sometimes he wondered what would’ve happened if she hadn’t left with him after the Titty Twister. Would she have gone back to her hometown? He thought she would. In fact, while they were together in Mexico, it often occurred to him that she could leave at any moment, but it happened that night after the robbery gone wrong, when they had argued and he had left her alone on the side of the road ─ also known as one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made in his life.

  


The moment he started driving away from her, he immediately regretted it and went back to give her the car and the money. He knew she would still be pissed at him, but leaving her alone, in the middle of nowhere, at night, without a car or money was worse and he wouldn’t have been to live with himself.

  


Seth still felt awful about that night and he didn’t think he’d ever stop feeling bad about it. He knew Kate would never forgive him for doing that ─ and she had every right not to. Leaving her like this, after her friend had just been killed in front of her, was probably the worst thing Seth had ever done. Knowing that this event led up to her death and her being possessed by Amaru only made it worse.

 _“Brother! Hey, Seth! Seth!”_ Richie interrupted Seth’s train of thoughts, snapping his fingers in his face. _“You zoned out for a minute there, you might wanna grip the wheel a little less tightly, you might just crush it.”_

 _“What?”_ Seth questioned, then looked at his hands, holding onto the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white. Seth sighed and agreed with his brother. _“Let’s switch places, you drive, I sleep.”_  
  


Seth pulled over to the side of the road and both brothers exited the car, switching places, or at least, that's what Kate thought was happening but Seth opened the door on the passenger side, and slipped in the backseat next to Kate.

_“You might want to shuffle a little to the side, princess.”_

_“What are you doing?”_ Kate asked, slightly chuckling at Seth, who was already settling in his seat and grabbing the chips he had left in the front.

“ _Told you I'm going to sleep and I'm not doing that in the front, the seat's not as comfortable. Now give me some space or I might just fall asleep on your shoulder.”_

  
  


Kate shook her head, rolling her eyes and did as she was told, getting buckled up in the seat behind Richie, settling against the car door as Richie started driving.

  


As Kate and Seth were talking, the younger Gecko looked at the rear view mirror and smiled.

 _“I feel like a dad driving his kids to school. I don't need to have too much imagination with you two bickering as usual. Sometimes I wonder if you guys aren't actually the same age,”_ Richie remarked with a chuckle.

 _“Shut up Richard!”_ Seth and Kate fired back in unison and they smiled at each other.  


...  


Later on, Seth still wasn't sleeping, but Kate was, her head resting against the car window.

  


As she had fallen asleep, Seth had laid his jacket on her lap, it was now the middle of the night so it was cold in the car.

  


Kate looked so peaceful, her lips slightly apart with the lightest snores filling the silence inside the car. Seth resisted the urge to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ears, she looked so perfect sitting there, she wasn't wearing any make-up and her hair was a little messy but it didn't matter, she still looked good.

  


Just as Seth was starting to get settled more comfortably to sleep for a while, Kate started thrashing around, whimpering, her features furrowed and she looked afraid. Seth unbuckled his seatbelt and immediately shuffled next to her, holding her shoulders in his large hands, lightly shaking her to wake her up.

 _“Kate! Kate, you're okay, you're okay,”_ Seth reassured Kate, who woke up startled, her eyes tearing up.

  
  


She shuddered and Seth took her in his arms, holding her close, her head resting in his neck.

 _“It's okay, you're okay now.”_ He nuzzled his nose in her hair then left a kiss on her temple, trying to calm her down.

  
  


She pulled away, breathing heavily and silently thanked him.

 _“ Another nightmare?”_ Richie asked, concerned.

_“Yeah, again.”_

 

Seth searched the expression on Kate's face and without thinking, he set his hand on top of hers and squeezed gently. 

_“Amaru’s gone and she's not coming back. You got rid of this bitch and she's not coming back, I promise you are okay, cupcake. We are okay.”_

  
  


Kate smiled at the nickname he had used for her and squeezed his hand, her thumb softly brushing against his.

  


Ever since Amaru, she had trouble sleeping, she would have nightmares of the night she died, of when she had been possessed but one dream kept coming back, with slight changes every time.

  
  


She was possessed by Amaru but the things she felt were hers. She could watch whatever was happening but she couldn't stop it, she was left with nothing but her feelings.

  


The particularly persistent dream consisted of Amaru trying to take Seth’s soul while Kate was watching. She couldn't stop it, couldn't fight it hard enough : she could only see the scene happening before her and feel Seth’s soul feeding Amaru.

  
  


She could feel the pain he was feeling, the hurt, the despair – everything Seth felt, she felt too. But most of all, she felt how badly he wanted to fight to get her back, to get rid of Amaru. She could feel what he felt when Richard told him Carlos had killed her – the utter shock, the disbelief, the sadness and the helplessness.

  
  


This particular nightmare was the worst she would have, it always left her shaking, out of breath and sweat. And usually, one of the brothers would wake her up, asking her if she was okay, worry laced through their voices. Most of the time, it would be Seth and he would try to soothe her back to sleep.

  
  
She knew she would be okay, as long as she had both Gecko brothers by her side.


	4. Room 93

Sure enough, a few days later, the three of them reached Acapulco and Seth decided to make a stop there and Kate was more than willing to comply, finally they were stopping near the beach. She had been craving seeing landscapes which didn't consist of shady motels or never ending desert. She had wanted so badly to just go to the beach and maybe even dip her feet in the water.

 

The second she got out of the car though, she felt the heat enveloping her, beads of sweat already forming on her forehead and now she really wanted to have a proper swim to cool off for a while. Sadly, a swimsuit wasn't an essential piece of clothing she had packed.

 

The Geckos were also feeling very overdressed and Seth went to a random store to buy summery clothes to blend in more easily, while Richie waited in the car in the shade, to avoid literally burning up in the sun.

 

The trio got a room in a motel a few miles outside of the city. It looked nice enough, isolated but still nice enough to have a pool and a gym. Kate, Seth and Richie got their stuff from the car, then went to their room making sure to always remain in the shade. But Kate noticed that Seth was holding two different keys. They reached the door with the number “93” and Seth stopped in front of it holding both keys in front of him.

 _“I got us two rooms for the night, I thought it's been a while since we've stayed in a nice-ish motel, we'll figure out sleeping arrangements later though,”_ Seth explained, then he opened room 93 and tossed the other key to Richie. _“Room 42, from what I understood, it's three doors down from here, on your right.”_

 

Kate followed Seth inside the room and was surprised to find that it was a lot less rough looking than the ones they'd been staying in these past months.

 

The walls were a pale green, with long beige curtains framing the windows on both sides of the room. There was a double bed in the middle of the room with a dark blue comforter on it and a few paintings on the wall above the bed. The rays of the sun hit the table in the corner of the room where Seth had pulled out a chair to sit on and take off his shoes.

 _“I’ll take the bathroom to change. Check my bag, I grabbed a couple of uh... swimsuits from the store for you. I didn't know your size so I grabbed a bunch of them, I figured you might want to enjoy the pool,”_ Seth said, scratching the back of his neck.

 _“Thank you, that's actually what I was thinking about earlier,”_ Kate said, grateful that Seth had thought about this.

 

He walked into the bathroom, grabbing a bag of clothes from his duffle bag. As he was changing, Kate checked out the swimsuits Seth had gotten for her and found herself staring at a literal pile of swimsuits. Each in three different sizes. There must've been twelve swimsuits in there, she thought, as she looked at all of them, then she decided on a black one-piece bathing suit, with a low cut back.

“ _Tell me you didn't pay for all those swimsuits, Seth. That must've been worth so much money, we didn't need this – I didn't need this.”_

 _“Don't worry, princess, I didn't pay for any of them, the clerks were too distracted with the actual tourists in the store,”_ Seth reassured Kate, standing close to her as he dropped his three-piece suit in his duffle bag.

 

Kate's breath caught in her throat as she felt Seth’s chest inches away from her back. She breathed hard and cleared her throat.

“ _Good_.”

 

She turned around slowly and felt Seth slightly backing away and she felt disappointed for some reason. However, he must've seen the look on her face and misinterpreted it as he added :

_“Don't worry, we're alright, we'll be careful, remember what I promised you back at the Dew Drop Inn?”_

_“No bump or scrapes.”_

_“No bump or scrapes,”_ Seth repeated after Kate and he smiled at her. _“No one's gonna hurt you and if they try, they'll get to taste my gun before they even try to get to you.”_

 

Kate chuckled, looking down and did a double take at Seth’s outfit – a white shirt with a flowery pattern and khaki shorts, a wild contrast to his usual look.

“ _What is this outfit? Did you rob a tourist at the store?_ ” Kate asked, definitely not hiding her amusement.

“ _Trying to blend in. See, you don't expect me to wear this outfit, means the plan's working,”_ Seth explained, gesturing towards his outfit.

“ _Well yeah no one would expect you to wear these clothes, that's for sure. I can't picture you not wearing anything that doesn't at least resemble a suit.”_

 _“I don't always wear suits,”_ Seth protested, with a slight chuckle. “ _A few years ago, Richie had his girlfriend at the time come over for Christmas dinner and the bastard made me wear a sweater.”_

 

Kate’s eyes near bulged out of their sockets and she laughed so hard, it seemed so strange to her, picturing Seth wearing a sweater.

“ _Do you even know how itchy those feel? He told me it would 'get me in the Christmas spirit for once’ like I give a fuck about that,”_ Seth whined.

“ _I have a question,”_ Kate said tentatively.

_“Go ahead.”_

_“Did it light up? Did it have Santa on it? I need more details for my imagination to work properly!”_ Kate asked, bending over in laughter.

 

Seth couldn't help but stare at her fondly, seeing her this happy made his heart swell. Being on the run did not leave much room for laughter and if it took one silly story of him wearing a sweater for Kate to laugh like this, so be it. He grinned and sat down at the edge of the bed, looking at her as she was trying to catch her breath.

 _“You done making fun of the old man?”_ Seth asked, faking hurt.

 

Kate went to sit next to him, still chuckling and nodded.

 _“Yeah, I'm done, that was fun!”_ The girl answered, still smiling. _“Anyway, I'm gonna get changed, I wanna go for a swim, the pool looks nice. I'll be right back.”_

 

Kate grabbed the swimsuit she had picked and a pair of shorts from her duffle bag and went to the bathroom to change.

 

She looked at the reflection and was surprised to find herself still smiling – she looked better. She almost looked like the girl she used to be – upbeat, smiling, put together. But deep down, she knew that girl was long gone.

 

She was a completely different person, there was no denying it. Everything had changed the minute they had stepped into the Titty Twister.

 

She had wanted to blame Seth and Richie for all of it, blame it on them for having taken her, her father and her brother as hostages. But she knew they had no idea what they were getting into and also, she was the one who then chose to leave with Seth instead of taking the RV. No one really was to blame for how messed up her life was. It just was and now she had to deal with it.

 

The young girl put on her brand new swimsuit and her shorts, then grabbed a towel and tied her hair up in a ponytail, hoping her hair wouldn't get wet at the pool and walked out of the bathroom to find Seth still sitting on the bed but with his shirt off.

 

She quickly glanced away, like her eyes would burn if she looked for too long. Looking at Seth when he was like this made her feel like she was doing something illegal -- it felt intimate, Sure, sometimes she found herself glancing at him, just a little too long for her own good. There was no denying it, Seth was a very attractive man, he had this whole dark and handsome look going for him and wearing three-piece suits only enhanced his looks.

  
  
She put her regular clothes back in her duffle bag, then asked Seth if he was also coming, to which he responded with a nod. Kate got out of the room, followed by Seth, but she realized she hadn’t paid attention to how they had even gotten here. She looked around and Seth pressed his hand against the small of her back, guiding her through the corridors. She had to stop herself from gasping, his hand was so warm against her skin, she shivered at the touch. After a few minutes, they reached the pool which was surprisingly deserted. She walked to a chair and left her towel and shorts there, then sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet into the warm water. After a while, Kate slid into the pool while Seth went to sit on the edge right where she had just been sitting, his feet dipped in the pool and his sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose, looking at Kate.

 

(...)

 

After some time, when the sun was setting, Richie joined them and they all got in the pool, then eventually, the three of them went back to their rooms to change. Seth then headed to a store not far from the motel to grab them pizzas which they ate while watching a random Spanish movie. They also discussed their plans for the next few days: they had decided to stay here for a while, wait to see if they got any news from the Peacekeeper. Kate didn't hide her delight, this place was a lot nicer than the ones they had been staying in lately, sure it wasn't perfect, it wasn't a home, but it was nice.

 

Once the clock hit 1:00AM, Richie was feeling hungry for something a little spicier than pizza and he left the room to find someone to fulfill his thirst.

 

Kate threw herself on the bed, feeling exhausted and sleepy after all the pizza she had eaten tonight and the few beers she had drunk too. She never really drank, after all, she was not supposed to but she made an exception sometimes. Tonight was one of those nights. She had now changed into an old tee-shirt of Seth's and black cotton shorts.

 _"God, I am exhausted,"_ She sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

 _"Last time I checked, my name's Seth, but go ahead, Kate,"_ Seth joked as he sat down next to her, grinning.

 _"You know you're a real comedian, huh,"_ Kate retorted as she turned to her side to look at Seth, with a smile on her face. _"If this whole thief business stops working out, you could become a stand-up comedian"_

 _"I know,"_ Seth approved and settled more comfortably on his side, looking at Kate.

 

 

Both of them were smiling at each other, finding comfort in this rare moment where they forgot about everything else -- culebras,  Xibalban queens, monsters. A moment where she was just Kate and he was just Seth.

 

 

He reached out and cupped her face with his hand, running his thumb gently on her cheek and she leaned into his touch, getting closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder, pressing her entire body against his side. Seth wrapped his arm around Kate, bringing her a little closer to him. She gently took his other hand in her own and intertwined their fingers, smiling at the sight. Then she looked up at Seth.

_"Seth?"_

_"Yeah?"_ He answered, his voice deepening and tilting his head towards Kate.

 

 

They found themselves merely inches away from each other and Seth's gaze kept switching between Kate's eyes and lips, unwilling to make the first move. Kate was breathing hard, while Seth's thumb was caressing the back of her hand so gently you would have thought she was made of porcelain. She looked into his eyes and for a second there, their eyes locked and both of them leaned in slowly, their breaths taken away and Seth captured Kate's bottom lip between his own tenderly, his hands moving to cup her face gently.

 

At first, Kate didn't kiss back -- this was _definitely_ not how she had expected her evening to go. But then she did and put her all into it, pouring her pain, her hurt, her frustration into it and she could see Seth was holding back, she could feel it, until he didn't anymore and he kissed her with everything he had, only to then pull away, his forehead resting against hers.

_"Goodnight, Kate."_

 

 

And just like that, Seth turned on his side, his back to Kate, leaving her breathless and confused, wondering if the kiss had really happened or was just the product of her imagination.


	5. Last Night Was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so as i promised a few of you, here's the fifth chapter before christmas!!  
> i really hope all of you will like it + thank you so so much for the support, you guys are incredible!

Saying Seth Gecko was a man of few words would be quite an understatement on this particular morning. The silence in the motel room was deafening, the only sounds were the quiet breathing of both Kate and Seth who somehow woke up facing each other, with Seth’s hand resting on top of Kate’s.

 

 

The young girl was the first to wake up and notice Seth’s hand on hers. She smiled fondly before remembering last night's events, which she hadn't been able to get off her mind all night, imagining all the different ways things could've gone had Seth not put a stop to whatever they had been doing. But then, Kate wasn't sure that was what she wanted ‒ stopping it. She'd gotten a taste of it and had gotten more curious – she wanted to know what would've happened afterwards, what Seth would have done. Would his hands have wandered around her body a little further down? Was he just going to kiss her and nothing more? So many questions she'd never get answers to. Questions that had been filling her mind all night, making for one particular risky dream, quite a change from the Amaru dreams if you asked her.

 

 

Kate sat up in bed, letting her feet dangle over the edge, and she started carefully removing her hand from under Seth’s, hoping he wouldn’t feel it, but he moved ever so slightly and tightened his grip on her and whispered words she had heard once before in a whole other context.

_“I’m sorry…”_

 

 

She turned her head over her shoulder to look at Seth, barely awake, his hair messy and his face showing that his night hadn’t been too peaceful either – the dark circles under his eyes and his hoarse voice proved it.

 _“Last night was…”_ Kate couldn’t finish her sentence.

 

 

Her eyes dropped to absent-mindedly look at the pattern on the comforter sprawled across the bed – she didn’t even know what to add to that sentence. Her mind was clouded with confusion, she couldn’t think straight.

 _“I don’t know what happened… I’m sorry I acted the way I did, that was a dick move,”_ Seth admitted, his thumb softly touching Kate’s.

 

 

Kate settled back in bed, sitting up against the headboard and Seth joined her, their hands still linked. He looked at her curiously, while she kept her gaze on their intertwined fingers – it felt foreign because they didn't just hold hands on a regular basis, but in a way, it also felt familiar, reassuring, feeling Seth’s warm hand holding her small delicate hand.

_“It wasn't just your fault, Seth. It wasn't just you. I… Let's just forget it ever happened.”_

 

 

Seth didn't say anything and simply nodded but their hands remained linked as they turned the TV on and watched Ocean’s Eleven in Spanish, Seth mumbling a few of the movie lines in English from time to time.

 _“Don't know what's so special about this Clooney guy that makes women swoon over him like he put the goddamn stars in the sky though,”_ Seth grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed.

 _“I like him, he's really classy. Kind of like you in that department, if we're being honest. Except for your nearly constant cursing, of course,”_ Kate answered playfully which earned her a smirk from Seth.

 

 

Suddenly, there was an urgent knock on the door, followed by Richie's voice.

_"Come on, it's like... 9:00am, I've been bored out of my mind in my room for hours, avoiding any ray of sun, open up."_

Seth rolled his eyes and got off the bed to open the door and was greeted by his brother rushing inside.

 _"So what'd I miss after I left? I hope nothing,"_ Richie asked, oblivious that he had indeed missed _something_.

 

 

Seth looked back at Kate, seeing the blood rushing to her cheeks with the memories of what had happened the night before and she looked at him straight in the eyes and slowly shook her head no, making him understand that they shouldn't tell his brother. Richie sat at the table in the corner, setting his glasses on it, expecting an answer from either of them who had remained awfully silent.

_"So? Did I miss anything ?"_

_"Nope, passed out a couple minutes after you left,"_ Seth lied, as Kate got up from the bed.

 _"I'm gonna go get dressed,"_ Kate announced, taking some of her clothes from her duffle bag and closing the bathroom door behind her.

Seth watched as she walked into the bathroom, never once letting her out of his sight, almost afraid she would vanish at any moment, even though there was no chance of that in here.

  


There was still a part of him that feared for her life every second of every day. He wished he could shield her with his own body at all times, protect her from those who could hurt her, himself included. Because he had hurt her before, he had done it before and he had done it again last night. He had seen the hurt in her eyes, a different kind of hurt, the kind that screamed "you bastard, you've really fucked me up this time", the kind that screamed he had fucked up on a whole other level.

  


But deep down, Seth was convinced he had made the right choice -- stopping it before they started doing anything more. He couldn't afford to feel things like this, not like this, not while they were on the run from some asshole who wanted to blow up the Geckos.

  


His priority had to be keeping Kate, Richie and himself safe. He couldn't afford any distraction. He'd gotten distracted before and it had gotten him nowhere, if anything, it had led him to be betrayed by both Vanessa and Sonja. Kate wouldn't betray him, he knew that, but something could happen to her and in a blinding rage, Seth could do anything to get her back.

  


That's what he was afraid of, he wouldn't think twice about dropping everything if Kate was in danger, or his brother for that matter.

  


He must’ve been been lost in his thoughts for a while because Richie let out a laugh and as he started cleaning his gun on the table, he said. 

_"So something did happen while I was gone.”_

  


Seth narrowed his eyes and looked at his brother.

_“What the fuck do you mean?”_

_“I’m not an idiot, brother. I saw the look you gave her, something must’ve happened,”_ Richard enquired, persuaded his brother was hiding something from him and Seth’s response cut short to the conversation, but also proved his point.

_“Shut up, Richard.”_

_“Oh brother…”_

  


And just like that, the conversation was dropped, but Richard knew that whatever had happened between his brother and Kate, it would make its way back into the conversation, one way or another.

  


And it did, only two days later.

 

(...)

 

It happened again was after a successful, unexpected heist. They had went to an empty tiny store on the side of a road near the motel to get some food for the three of them, and the cashier at the desk had happened to leave the money – lots of it, surprisingly – unattended. They shared a look and Seth shrugged, going to grab the gun tucked in the waistband of his boxers as Kate did the same with hers concealed by her denim jacket.

  


She went behind the counter and put all of the money inside her bag while Seth kept an eye out for the cashier. But then he saw him on the parking lot, hurrying to get back in his car. Seth lowered his gun and Kate looked at him, panic in her eyes.

 _“What are you doing, Seth?”_ Kate asked, frantic.

_“He just left, I saw him running to get in his car, we're safe.”_

_“Oh,”_ Kate sighed, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding. _"This guy really does not care about this place."_

  


She closed her bag and rounded the counter, going back to Seth's side. He immediately grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the store and they drove back to the motel, their hands still linked as Seth drove. Neither of them questioned it and when they reached the motel, they sat in the car for a while, Kate was counting the money while Seth stacked it on his lap, counting it too.

_"I can't believe we just got this much money so easily, there must be something like two thousand dollars in there! If only scores were always that easy!"_

 

 

They got out of the car, grinning, and once again, their hands found each other as they walked to room 93. As they both rushed to get to the door first, Kate somehow ended up pinned to the door, her breath taken away, with Seth’s face inches away from hers. She felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest as it was beating so fast, so hard. Her eyes went to his lips for a second, lingering there, remembering how they had felt against hers just a few days earlier before he had pulled away so abruptly. Seth leaned even closer, his nose touching Kate's, his hand cupping her cheek tenderly. If either of them moved now, they would be kissing again. But they didn't, they stayed like this and Seth rested his forehead against Kate's.

 _"We can't do this... It's not... right. You're..."_ Seth whispered against her lips.

_"I'm?"_

_"You know, Kate..."_

_"No I don't, Seth. Enlighten me, please, because I really don't know,"_ Kate was annoyed now and she pushed at Seth’s chest.

  


She was getting tired of Seth assuming things, and mostly him assuming whatever they were doing was wrong. She was nearly nineteen, and, sure, he was something like thirty, maybe, but she was saying yes and so was he – when he wasn't being so concerned.

  


Seth wasn’t saying anything, standing a few feet away from Kate but you could see the struggle in his eyes – one part of him wanted to make a move, while the rest of him was telling him that it was wrong for him to do so. This was Kate, the girl whose family he and his brother had abducted to cross the Mexican border all those months ago, the girl he had grown attached to over the course of time, the girl who had been his partner after the Titty Twister, the girl he had pushed away so far because he couldn’t deal with the pain of maybe losing her one day, because he couldn’t even deal with himself if he wasn’t high on heroin, the girl who he had lost, then got back. The girl he had sworn he would protect.

 

_“You’ll get out of this without any bumps or scrapes.”_

  


Seth’s own words came back to haunt him, he had failed her – she had died because he had pushed her away. Because that was just how he dealt with emotions, he pushed them away, he had done it countless times.

 

 

But Kate… She was his greatest failures in terms of dealing with emotions. he had found this girl who, despite everything, stuck with him, even after he had taken her and her family. She still found him to be forgivable, after all the unspeakable things he had done.

  


When he thought she was gone forever, Seth lost it completely, he blamed himself for her death. If they hadn’t taken her, she would have been alright, she wouldn’t have had her entire life wrecked because of him. He never meant to ruin her life, and he would do anything to fix it, to make it right again.

  


Seth thought about his options here and only one came to mind. He had to push her away – he **had to**.

 _“Go inside, Kate, I don’t have time for this,”_ Seth said sternly, not even looking at her.

 _“You know Seth, you can’t just keep playing me like this. You can’t keep getting close to me then push me away. Someday, I’m going to get tired of whatever this is,”_ she waved her hand between the two of them. _”When that day comes, you can be sure I’ll get the hell out of here, I’m not going to let you play with me.”_

  


And with that, Kate went inside the room, slamming the door behind her, without another look towards Seth who stood there, stunned. He walked away back to the car, and drove to a store to get himself a nice bottle of hooch to drown his feelings in alcohol.

  
  
A few hours later, Seth was passed out in the car, in front of room 93 and he saw Kate at the window, she saw him, and in his drunken haze, he caught sight of her rolling her eyes and closing the curtains. 

 

Damn, he really fucked it up this time.


	6. Issues and Solutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here it is : the first chapter of die for you for the year 2017, i hope this one goes smoothly for all of you! 
> 
> thanks again for sticking with me and reading this fic and commenting and leaving kudos and bookmarking, you guys are the Real Deal, love you!

The next day, in an unexpected turn of events, Seth, Richard and Kate had to leave the motel in a hurry after the Peacekeeper called to warn them that whoever was after them had been seen in Mexico. Freddie was researching who was this clearly determined psycho who had blown up a store this time – a store they stopped at a couple of weeks ago. Whoever was after the brothers was getting close and they had to get on the move – quick.

  
  


Seth and Kate were still tense around each other, neither of them willing to address the ongoing issue -- they mostly kept to themselves, only speaking to each other when absolutely necessary. 

  
  


Seth knew he had majorly fucked up this time and he didn’t want to push Kate too far. Kate, on the other hand, was lost and also pissed at Seth who refused to say more than three consecutive words to her, afraid she would get upset and run away from him. But he had it coming, he was the one who had pushed her away in the first place after all.

  
  


Richard was stuck between the two of them, Seth had vaguely told him he was to blame with no further details, he was stuck being the messenger but he was growing tired of this silent treatment.

  
  


They drove all day, Richie remained hidden from the sun while Seth was behind the wheel with Kate in the passenger seat, stubbornly looking at the desert surrounding them to avoid catching Seth’s longing glances towards her. 

  
  


Even though Richard hadn’t been told what had happened with his partners, he knew that it must’ve been major if they refused to speak, especially Kate who avoided any situation that implied she would have to speak to Seth. Whatever happened between these two needed to be fixed because soon enough, the three of them would be left with no money and they would need to get some cash, one way or another.

  
  


Richie received a call from Kisa in the early evening. Freddie had contacted her, knowing she had contacts in Mexico that might be useful for info. Once she was informed of the situation, she called Richard, gave him the address of a safe house in the middle of the desert, and assured him they would be safe there. The house was secluded, registered under a secret alias and a few culebras stayed there at all times to watch over the property, making sure no intruders tried anything. 

  
  


In less than an hour, they would be at Kisa’s safe house and they had been driving through the desert for, at least, two hours already. The tension in the car was unbearable: Seth’s grip on the wheel was tight, his eyes glued to the road ahead and Kate was still looking at the scenery, her face showing no emotion. In the meantime, Richard was sat in the backseat, looking between his brother and the girl, rolling his eyes. As soon as they reached the house, Richie was going to have a serious conversation with them. This tension was not only unbearable, one day, it was going to be their downfall, which is why this situation had to end -- quick.

  
  


Once they reached the house -- or the palace as Seth was calling it -- it was way too big but neither of them minded, they had been staying in shitty motel rooms long enough, it was about time they got a little more space to themselves. 

  
  


When they stepped out of the car out into the night, a tall woman with long wavy dark brown hair welcomed them, her name was Krystal, she led the three of them inside the villa, showing them around and once they reached the second floor where all the rooms were situated, she directed them to those that were free.

 

_ “Okay, there are three at the end of the corridor, you two love birds can take the last one on your left, it has a double --” _

  
  


Seth saw Krystal’s knowing look and almost choked when he heard what she had called him and Kate. But then he understood why she would call them that, he had taken all of her luggage without letting her protest it and he was sure he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes away from her at all times.

 

_ “Uh, we’re not -- She’s not --”  _ Seth corrected, shaking his head, his hands moving just  _ a little _ too much to be casual.

_ “Oh sorry, I just assumed -- Well that’s awkward,” _ Krystal chuckled, embarrassed.  _ “I’ll let you three unpack.” _

  
  


Once Krystal left, Kate chose the room the woman had pointed out moments ago, Seth followed her, carrying her bags inside the room and he set them on the ground by a dresser. As he was about to leave to give her some space away from him, Seth heard the telltale sound of a lock clicking into place. Kate turned around, her brow furrowed.

 

_ “What was that noise, Seth?” _ she asked.

  
  


Seth walked to the door and tried to open it and with a look of horror, he realized it was locked from outside. He kept trying to open it but it didn’t matter, they were stuck inside that room -- him and Kate.

 

_ “Richard, we’re locked inside! It was a goddamn trap, fuck’s sake, the fucking culebras are going to eat us,” _ Seth cursed, his hand banging on the door.  _ “Richie, you better open the goddamn door!” _

_ “Oh brother, I locked you two inside that room. I’m sick of driving around and being your damn messenger, you two are going to figure out your issues, I’m not letting you leave before you two are on speaking terms again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sleep.” _

  
  


And with that, Richie was gone, the door of his room slamming behind him.

_ “Well jeez, thanks Richie,” _ Kate muttered, sitting in a chair in the corner, picking at her nails.

  
  


This was going to be a very long night, Seth thought.

 

(...)

Kate hadn’t moved from her spot in the chair in nearly two hours now, her arms were tightly crossed over her chest. Seth was sitting on the bed, looking at her, sighing ever so often.

 

_ “You can't just sit there all night, Kate.” _

_ “Oh you would be surprised by how stubborn I can be when motivated, Seth.” _

_ “You do know Richie isn’t playing, right? We aren’t getting out of this place until we’ve sorted out our ‘issues’,” _ Seth warned.  _ “I don’t know about you but I’m getting hungry, I’m going to need food soon.” _

_ “Oh I’m doing just fine, Seth,” _ Kate retorted confidently, giving Seth a tight smile.

  
  


Once the silence filled the room again, the only sound both of them could hear was the deafening growling of Kate’s stomach, betraying her.

 

_ “Okay, I might be hungry too…” _ she admitted.

_ “I figured,” _ Seth chuckled, getting up to stand closer to Kate, leaning against the wall, his hands shoved deep inside his pockets.  _ “Okay, let’s talk. Fuck -- I’ll talk, uh, first.” _

  
  


Seth leaned his back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.

 

_ “I owe you an apology… For pushing you around like that. It wasn’t-- Fuck, I don’t -- I don’t talk about things like that, I’m not… good… with words,” _ Seth tried to explained, his hands pulling at his hair. 

  
  


He didn’t do these things -- talking about his feelings. He just wasn’t that way. He did stupid things, regretted them and immediately wanted to go back and change the things he had messed up. He had done this multiple times before, he had done this with Kate, several times.

 

_ “What I’m trying to say is… I’m sorry, Kate. I don’t know why I’m like this, why I do the shit I do most of the time. I guess this was my very own fucked up way to ‘protect’ you.” _

_ “Seth…” _ Kate began, now standing up.  _ “I told you before, you need to stop trying to protect me. I’m not the little church girl I was before, I can take care of myself and you don’t need to protect me from you. I know you. Despite what you say, you’re a good man, a really good man, Seth.” _

  
  


Kate’s small pale hand reached out to touch Seth’s cheek. He stepped a little closer to her and held her wrist in his hand, leaving it against his cheek as he inhaled, his eyes look at the ground with a sigh.

 

_ “You need to stop, Kate.” _

_ “Stop what?” _

_ “Saying things like this…” _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “Things that make me want to kiss you again.” _

_ “Oh.” _

  
  


Kate's gaze dropped to the ground, a now familiar fluttering feeling filling her completely. The mere thought of Seth kissing her again made her both ecstatic and terrified – she knew kissing him was probably not the best idea, but then becoming his and Richie’s partner in crime wasn't such a good idea either, a complete 180. From a good preacher's daughter to a bank robber, slash part-time culebra slayer : who would've thought ?

  
  


Seth kept Kate’s hand firmly pressed against his cheek as he pulled her closer, his hand holding her waist, as Kate’s hand slid down from his cheek to his shoulder and chest. Both of them subconsciously got closer, their chests almost touching, leaving nearly no room between them, their heavy breaths molding in the middle with anticipation for what would inevitably come next. Seth’s forehead was resting against Kate’s, as she inched a little closer, their lips brushing softly, 

  
  


Kate looked up at Seth, as if she was asking for his permission, he simply nodded and she gave him a chaste kiss, cupping his jaw gently, her thumbs softly caressing his growing scruff. It took everything in Seth to avoid rushing the kiss -- he did not want to mess this up again. So he took it slow, kissed her gently, kept his hands in “safe” areas but Kate was having none of it, pulling at his hair, at his shirt.

 

_ “Seth, please…” _ she pleaded as she gripped his forearms, begging him for more.  _ “I want this, I -- I want you. Don’t hold back.” _

  
  


And those words were all it took to break down Seth’s guard, his kisses becoming more urgent, more messy, his hands grabbing and pulling. 

  
  


Seth’s lips wandered around, on Kate’s jaw, her neck, her throat, earning him soft moans and the occasional nail scratch down his back. At one point, Seth stopped to look at Kate, at her slightly messy hair, her already swollen lips.

 

_ “What are you doing? Keep going,” _ she urged.

_ “Looking at you, you’re beautiful.” _

  
  


Kate beamed, her arms going around his neck, pulling him in closer for another kiss. She started backing up towards the bed, taking Seth with her -- but also the lamp sitting on the bedside table which shattered on the floor. Both of them cringed, then laughed it off, and kissed a little more before Richard quite literally burst into the room.

 

_ “I didn’t think you’d actually throw things at each -- What is happening here!” _ Richard stopped dead in his tracks as he found his brother and Kate in the middle of making out. 

  
  


His eyes widened, and he let out a chuckle, which rapidly turned into laughter. As he struggled to gain back his composure, he managed to let out a few words in between gasps.

 

_ “Your faces are hilarious, you're both like 'oh shit, Richie caught us!’ but I already made bets on you two with Scott before he left, I can't believe I actually won the bet, he is going to be pissed,” _ Richie laughed, then smirked at Seth and Kate.  _ “I'll leave you to to it, don't do anything I wouldn't do! And Kate, next time you call your brother, tell him he owes me fifty bucks!” _

  
  
And with that, Richard left the room with a wave, leaving Seth and Kate confused, but it didn't keep them from kissing more for a while before falling asleep, exhausted after the long day they’d had.


	7. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who has been showing support, you guys are great!  
> here's the seventh chapter, which introduces a new character!   
> i picture him as theo james but feel free to imagine him as anyone you'd like!   
> as for krystal i'm not sure how i picture her, i'll have to get back to you on that!  
> i wanna give special thanks to the girls in the implications gc for always inspiring me and for being the best enablers ever <333 i love you guys

The following morning, when Kate woke up, she found herself in Seth’s arms still, facing him, her head resting against his chest. They were still wearing their clothes from the day before -- both of them had been too exhausted and busy with kissing to even bother to unpack and change into more comfortable clothes. Kate looked at Seth, looked at his features, she had never seen his face looking this peaceful and calm. He was usually concentrated, his brow furrowed, his hand scratching his scruff when he was deep in thought, seeing him in this state, relaxed, was refreshing to her. 

  
  
  


She carefully touched his jaw, taking in how strong it actually was, sharp as a knife. She took in everything Seth’s face had to offer -- his eyes, his thick eyelashes fanning over his skin, his bed hair, his mouth which had been on her skin, on her lips, just a few hours ago.

_ “You know, staring is rude, princess,” _ Seth mumbled, his eyelids fluttering open and a smirk spreading lazily across his face.

_ “Moron,” _ Kate retorted with a giggle, playfully slapping her hand on his chest. 

  
  
  


As she was about to roll over and get up to eat since she was starving, Seth’s hand caught her wrist, then slid down to lace his fingers through hers, a playful shimmer glimmering in his eyes.

_ “Don’t I get a morning kiss?” _ Seth asked, his bottom lip jutting out like a toddler asking for candy.

_ “No, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, Seth, but you have bad morning breath. Go brush your teeth and then we’ll talk,” _ Kate replied, with a smirk, leaving Seth stunned as she got out of bed and left after looking back at him, grabbing her gun from the bedside table and tucking it into the waistband of her jeans, just in case.

_ “Goddamn, she will be the death of me.”  _

  
  
  


Then Seth stretched his arms over his head and got out of bed too, careful not to step on the remains of the bedside table lamp shattered on the floor. He made a mental note to ask for a broom or something to clean up the mess, they didn’t need to add an injury to their list of problems.

  
  
  


Kate walked down the stairs, then walked into the kitchen where some tall, brown-haired guy was waiting, leaning against a counter, holding a mug. He wore only black clothes, including a leather jacket, completely unnecessary in this Mexican heat. When he heard Kate’s steps coming towards him, his eyes left the ground and his eyebrows raised with surprise.

_ “Well well well, who is this pretty little girl I’m seeing here... “ _ The man asked with a smirk on his face, his voice laced with something Kate didn’t like at all, as he slowly walked towards her.

  
  
  


Seth chose this moment to go to the kitchen and found them, his anger rising to the surface as he grabbed his gun from the back of his pants.

_ “Man, you better back the fuck off before I blow your goddamn brains out,” _ Seth threatened, holding his gun to the guy’s temple.

_ “You need to chill, man, I’m not gonna touch your little girlfriend over here, I don’t like them underage.” _ His eyes blinked and turned green, showing his culebra side.

_ “You heard him, get away from me.” _ Kate pulled out a gun from the back of her jeans, pointing it at the guy’s chest.  _ “And for the record, I’m nineteen, you piece of shit.” _

_ “Feisty… I like it.” _ He backed away with his hands up.  _ “You can lower your guns now.” _

  
  
  


Seth and Kate shared a look, and Seth nodded at her, lowering his gun.

_ “Who the fuck are you, by the way?” _

_ “I should ask that to you two… I’m Alex. Now who are you two? Friends of Kisa?” _

_ “I’m Seth. And I’m not sure I’d say Kisa and I are friends really... Let’s say we’ve been… allies, I guess?” _

_ “Right, and who’s the feisty little thing?” _

  
  
  


Seth definitely did not like Alex’s tone and went to grab his gun again.

_ “Man, you better watch your mouth or I’m gonna pull out my gun again and put it in your mouth and --” _

_ “Woah there, calm down, amigo, I got it,”  _ Alex cut in, his hands up.

_ “Seth, calm down,”  _ Kate added, her hand resting on Seth’s arm to keep him from going off again.  _ “I’m Kate.” _

_ “Well it was nice chatting with you two, but I’ve got shit to do,”  _ Alex said, gulping the rest of his coffee and leaving without another word.

  
  
  


Seth shook his head, thinking ‘what a fucking dick’ and walked up behind Kate, his arms wrapping around her, leaving a quick peck on her neck, smiling. She smiled too and leaned into his touch, her hands going to hold his forearms, then she turned to the side slightly and kissed the corner of his mouth, a smile plastered on her face. 

_ “Well good morning to you too, princess.” _

_ “You know… You didn’t correct that guy…” _

_ “What do you mean?” _ Seth asked, confused.

_ “He called me your girlfriend. But we’re -- I mean -- We’re not? We didn’t talk about this.” _

_ “Well, if I can recall correctly, little miss Katie-Cakes, we both had different plans for last night,”  _ Seth replied, chuckling as he kissed Kate’s neck playfully.

_ “I can’t argue with you on that, we did get… carried away.” _

  
  
  


Kate sat on one of the stools, then Seth joined her, remaining close to her. He grabbed the coffee pot and two mugs, set the cups in front of them and nearly filled them up to the brim. Kate rubbed her eyes, yet she no longer felt sleepy after their encounter with Alex.

_ “You didn’t have nightmares last night, right? I didn’t hear you…” _ Seth asked carefully.

  
  
  


Kate usually woke up startled in the middle of the night, panting after waking up from her nightmares, he didn’t ask for details, he just knew Amaru was involved most of the time. Seth always woke up when she did, he held her, reassured her and put her back to sleep, but last night had been different, they’d slept tangled in each other and he hadn’t felt her move at all.

_ “No, I actually slept like a baby, I probably have you to thank for that,” _ Kate answered with a lazy smile on her face as her hands went to Seth’s neck to pull him in for a kiss.

_ “Guys! I know I said I was happy because I won my bet with Scott but I do not need a visual reminder every second! Keep your tongues out of my sight!” _ Richie protested, cringing.

_ “Shut up Richard!” _ Seth muttered under his breath, then quickly pecked Kate’s nose.

  
  
  


Krystal followed after Richard and saw Seth and Kate, then looked very confused for a moment.

_ “You two are so cute, it’s making me nauseous, but I thought you weren’t --” _ she asked.

_ “Oh they weren’t yesterday, I caught them last night and by the way, they broke a lamp,” _ Richie explained, smirking, as Seth flipped him the bird.

_ “They what? You two sure are a lot more intense than you --” _

_ “Oh no, it’s not -- We didn’t --” _ Kate cut in immediately. 

  
  
  


Her cheeks reddened at the thought of her and Seth doing anything  _ more _ . It wasn’t that she had thought about it before, during their so-called Mexican Honeymoon. There had been moments where they had stood just a little too close to each other, or she had been a little too excited after a successful heist. Moments when they’d watch a movie together and a sex scene would come on and the atmosphere would shift and get tense, neither of them would dare look at the other, fearing that all the tension would come crashing down around them.

  
  
  


But she had always pushed those thoughts to the back of her head at the time, focusing on staying alive, and possibly getting back Scott and also Richie, even though Seth was against the idea. 

  
  
  


Now those thoughts were back and stronger than ever after last night and although she knew they had other priorities, as in staying alive and not getting blown up by the freak who was after Seth and Richard, she still wondered if Seth would make a move, or would they stay the way they were?

_ “Moving on!” _ Seth interjected, interrupting Kate’s train of thoughts.  _ “We met your little friend, Alex. Not so nice meeting him, though.” _

_ “Oh don’t mind him, he’s an asshole,” _ Krystal cleared up as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

_ “I heard that!” _ Alex yelled from upstairs.

_ “I know, you were supposed to, you idiot!” _ Krystal retorted, rolling her eyes.  _ “No but really, he’s not that bad once you get to know him.” _

_ “Yeah we’ll see about that.” _

  
  
  


Seth drank the rest of his coffee and nodded his head towards Richie.

_ "Anything from Chuck Norris’s apprentice? Kung Fu Panda?” _

_ “Seth! That’s my brother you’re talking about,” _ Kate exclaimed, hitting his bicep.

_ “Sorry princess, old habits die hard.” _

_ “Hey brother, I didn’t know you were a Kung Fu Panda fan, is that what you used to do in prison? Watch children’s movies and play dominoes?”  _ Richie mocked, grinning at his brother.

_ “Shut --” _

_ “Shut up, Richard, we got it Seth,” _ Krystal butted in, rolling her eyes as Kate laughed silently while drinking the rest of her coffee.

_ “I’m going to call Scott, see what he’s been up to lately and ask if he’s heard anything, I’ll grab my phone from the car.” _ Kate got up and brushed past Seth to get to the door.

_ “Man you got it bad,” _ Alex cooed mockingly as he walked down the stairs.

_ “Don’t you have somewhere else to be stupid right now, huh?” _ Seth retorted, annoyed.

_ “Nope, not until tomorrow.” _

  
  
  


Seth sighed and readjusted his gun at the back of his pants.

_ “I’m going to get the rest of our stuff from the car, in the meantime, Richie, go call Ranger Danger and ask him if he can get us out of this fucking mess.” _

_ “On it!” _

  
  
  


Seth got out of the house, walking to the car and found Kate sitting on the edge of the trunk, on the phone with Scott. A smile spread across his face as he looked at her sitting there, her hair messy from the wind, smiling as she talked to her brother.

_ “No, Scott, I swear he called you that -- No you won’t! Scott!” _ Kate giggled, shaking her head.  _ “I miss you too. We’re somewhere in Mexico, the less you know, the better. Oh -- okay, see you then. I love you, Scott.” _

  
  
  


Kate hung up with a sigh, then got up and walked towards Seth, her arms reaching out to hug him. He smiled and turned around to wrap his arms around her too.

_ “Are you okay?” _ Seth asked, leaving a kiss at the top of her head.

_ “Yeah, I just-- miss him a lot. I wish he could be here...” _

_ “I understand, but --” _

_ “I know, it’s too dangerous with this guy chasing you and Richie.” _

_ “Huh, yeah…. Sorry, Kate.” _

_ “It’s okay, if it keeps him safe, I’m good.” _

  
  
  


Kate pulled away from the hug and looped her arms around Seth’s neck, pulling him closer.

_ “If I have you and Richie by my side, nothing will happen to me, I trust you.” _

  
  
  


Seth nudged his nose against Kate’s and kissed her slowly, teasing her with his tongue. She tilted her head, allowing him access and she ended up pushed up against the car, Seth’s hands roaming around as she felt him harden against her stomach.

_ “Sorry -- I --” _

_ “It’s okay,” _ Kate smiled.  _ “It’s not like you can control it, huh.” _

_ “Yeah, I think I’m gonna have to stand out here for a while, I’m not going back inside with this,” _ Seth replied, gesturing to his crotch, which made Kate laugh in return, an angelic sound to Seth’s ears.  _ “Richie would never let me forget about this.” _

_ “Alright, I’m going back inside, I need a shower,” _ Kate answered as she stepped away from the car and Seth.

  
  
  


Seth’s eyes never left her silhouette as she walked away and he realized Alex was right, he did have it bad,  _ really _ bad. And now he was stuck out here with a hard-on he needed to get rid of. Just wonderful!


	8. You Just… Genuinely Look Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is extremely short but i haven't updated in nearly 20 days and well i'm satisfied with this!  
> i'm sorry it's cut so short, i felt like i needed to include richie's perspective on whatever's happening between seth and kate as it affects their bond/relationship!  
> once again, thank you for the support : subs, comments, kudos, bookmarks, etc, y'all are really cool!!
> 
> \+ not sk/dusk/fic related but you should all listen to "lago azul" by jamila velazquez, the song was sung on the show "empire" and i fell in love with it!

Later on in the afternoon, Seth, Kate, Richie, Alex and Krystal were all gathered around a large table in the basement of the villa, looking at their options, trying to figure out a way to escape the guy who was after the Gecko brothers. The guy now had a name, according to Alex, his name was Dominico.

  
  


Alex told them he’d met this guy a few years back, apparently he used to be a Ranger, just like Gonzalez, but something happened to him and it was like a switch was flipped, Dominico lost his way, became a completely different person. Alex and this guy hadn't crossed paths since then, about three years ago.

  
  


In the middle of coming up with their plan, Kate stretched and told the group she was going to the kitchen to grab something to drink, to which Seth nodded and gently grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. As she was going up to the stairs, she heard footsteps behind her and found Richie following her, a smile on his face.

 

 _“Thought I'd grab something to drink too, and maybe we can talk about my brother!”_ Richie said with a smirk, earning him a slap on the shoulder.

  
  


Both of them walked up to the fridge, Kate grabbed a juice box and Richie took two beers. The younger woman settled on a stool and Richie sat next to her. She took a sip from her juice and turning towards Richie, she asked him :  

 

 _“What do you want to talk about?”_ Her cheeks were heating up, knowing they'd end up talking about what he had walked in on the night before.

 _“So… You and Seth? I knew there was something there, but I thought Seth was going to keep his mouth shut for years. And you being oblivious would've had to wait until my brother decided to make his move.”_ Richie chuckled then kept talking. _“You two didn't… Right?”_

  


 

Kate felt her entire face redden with embarrassment.

 

_“No! Of course not.”_

_“I'm just messing with you, Katie. I have supernatural hearing, I would've heard!”_

  


 

Kate's eyes widened at the thought, almost choking on the sip of juice she had just taken and she hid behind her long brown hair. This obviously meant Richard had heard Seth and her -- not that they'd done anything more than kissing, but still, Kate was sure they hadn't been completely silent, which felt mortifying now, knowing Seth's brother had heard them.

 

_“I'm messing with you again, Kate. I only hear what I choose to hear. Trust me, I don't want to know anything about my brother's sexual life, so hearing it live is definitely something I don't want to experience.”_

_“Oh…”_

_“Culebras aren't like those TV vampires or that Edward guy who looks like he's frozen, we have abilities we get to control, we're not all over the place, if you get what I mean.”_

  


 

Kate nodded, smiling at the image of Richie knowing of the existence of Twilight, which made her wonder if Seth knew it too. The simple thought made her smile, she definitely couldn't imagine Seth nor Richie sitting down for an hour and a half to watch Breaking Dawn -- not willingly, that is.

 

_“You know, you look a lot happier now, you have this look on your face, you’re usually cheerful, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know, you just… genuinely look happy.”_

_“I feel that way too, not just because of Seth, but also because of you,”_ Kate explained, _”I mean, you’ve stuck with me when you could’ve ditched me and told me to go the hell back to Bethel, but you decided to keep me around and I’m really thankful… for that. I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for you, Seth, Scott, or even Ranger Gonzalez and Kisa.”_

_“It’s been a rocky few years, right?”_

_“Yeah, tell me about it! I can’t believe I’m turning nineteen next week…”_

_“Wait… Your birthday’s next week? Does Seth know?”_ Richie enquired.

 _“I didn’t tell him, I didn’t think he would care, I don’t know…”_ Kate looked down at her hands, picking at her nails, then looking back up at Richie who was chuckling.

 _“We_ are _talking about Seth, a known grinch, but I’m sure he cares about his girl’s birthday!”_

  
  


Kate blushed at what Richie had called her, wondering if he was right. Would Seth care about her birthday? And was she actually his girl? They didn’t have much time to chat alone (none, really) so she had no clue as to how Seth was really feeling, she just assumed. Eventually, they’d need some time alone to really talk this through, but she had a feeling it would be difficult to get Seth to openly talk to her -- about his feelings, about “them”, about anything even remotely deeper than bickering about stupid things like they always do.

 

 

But no matter what, Kate would wait because he truly deserved it.

 

 

He deserved to be waited for.


End file.
